Air valve



June 7, 1938. J. F. sTANwlcH AIR VALVE Filed June '7, 1955 Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE Ain VALVE Joseph F. Stanwich, Chicago, Ill., .assigner to The Dole Valve Company, Chicago, Ill., a cor- ;poration of Illinois Application June 7, 1935, Serial No. 25,358

7 Claims.

Vand which can be manufactured at a low cost.

The invention has as a further Aobject to provide an air valve with a water discharge pipe which can be vplaced -in position after the air valve -proper is finished.

'I'he invention has other vobjects which will be more particularly pointedout in the accompanying description.

Referring -now to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a View showing one form Vof the air valve embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view taken through Fig. 1, with'the parts in position;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of `the bottom of the air valvebefore the water discharge pipe is placed in position;

Fig. 4 is a view of the vouter-casing of the valve,

4separate from -the bottom;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofthe water discharge Pipe;

Fig. -6 -is a plan viewfof the bottom of the air valve, with the water discharge pipe therein and before the end -of the waterdischarge pipe is flared;

Fig. 'l is a view similar -to Fig. -6 after the-end of the water discharge pipe has been flared;

Fig. 8 'is a View of the bottom of theair Valve,

showing a modified construction;

Fig.v 9 is a plan view -of the bottom of the air -Valve shown in Fig. 8, with the water discharge pipe inposition after its end is ared;

Fig. -10 is a view of the end of the water discharge pipe before its end is flared and showing a slot therein;

Fig. 11 is a View showing a further modied construction; .and

Fig. -12 is a view showing a further modified construction.

Like numerals refer to .like parts `throughout the several figures.

In the manufacture of the air valve at .present al1 `the Aparts .are first assembled, including the bottom and the water discharge pipe, and the bottom projects down below the lower end of the casing. The valve when thus assembled is plated, ,is then put upon the test rack and tested for air, and is then tested for steam. The Valve is then ,buffetted and polished. During all these operations the waterdischarge pipe is in position and in the way and makes the several operations quite difficult. In the present construction thesedif- -culties are leliminated as the water discharge pipe is not attached until all the steps have been taken and the air' Valve itself has been completed.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated an air -valve having a casing I and a bottom 2. The casing I is' made of comparatively thin sheet material which can vbe plated and burnished. The bottom 2 is preferably cast' of any suitable cast metal. The `casing is provided with an opening 3 near the bottom and the bottom l2 is provided with an upstanding wall portion 4, to which is connected a hollow screw threaded nipple 5, by means of vwhich the air -valve is attached to the radiator' or other device in connection with which it is used. The bottom is provided with an upstanding member S6 upon which rests the hollow receptacle "I, which acts as a float and which also preferably contains an 'eXpansible fluid, which when steam enters the casing I becomes heated and expands and forces the bottom of the float outwardly so as to raise it up and cause the valve member 8 thereon to engage its seat 9 and closeth'e escapepassage-V way I 0 leadingY from the casing I to the outside atmosphere.

In the manufacture ofthe valve the casing and the bottom are fasten-ed together before the water discharge Apipe is placed in position, the

bottom and the casing being connected together 2 by solder or other means, the .lower end of the .casing surrounding the bottom `and its lower air Valve a flaring device arranged so that when f the water discharge pipe is forced against it, the end of the water discharge pipe is iiared or enlarged, so that it will remain attached to the valve and will not be .disconnected therefrom throughout the ordinary use of the valve. There is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6 a particular form of device for flaring the end of the water discharge pipe which consists in providing the upstanding member 6 with a aring part I2. `The end of the water discharge pipe II is forced against this ilaring part and is ared or enlarged so that it spreads out and is of greater size than the diameter of the hole through the nipple 5, and will thus be retained in position. Any suitable construction for securing the ilaring oi' the end of the water discharge pipe II may be utilized. There is illustrated in the drawing one construction wherein the flaring part I2 has a conical shape. 'I'he end of the water discharge pipe is then pushed against this conical haring member I2 and rotated. The flaring member at its base is larger than the pipe so that it expands or ilares the end of the pipe, as shown in Fig. '7, thus making it larger than the opening in the nipple 5 so that the pipe cannot be readily withdrawn, but Will remain in position during the handling and use of the air valve.

In Figs. 8 and 9 there is illustrated a modified construction wherein instead of having a conical shaped flaring member I2, the flaring member I2a is wedge shaped. With this construction I prefer to provide the end of the water discharge pipe with a slot I3, so that when it is pushed in against the wedge-shaped Haring member the end of the pipe will be flared or enlarged, as shown in Fig. 9, so that the pipe cannot be easily withdrawn from the valve. The slot I3 may be used with the conical shaped flaring member if desired.

In the making of the device, the parts are all connected together except the water discharge pipe. The bottom and the casing are preferably soldered. 'I'he nipple 5 is also soldered around the hole 3 so as to prevent any leak. The Valve thus assembled without the Water discharge pipe then goes through the several operations or bufng, polishing, plating, testing and color buffing, and When completed, the water discharge pipe II is pushed into the nipple 5 and its end is flared by the haring element, and the valve thus made ready for use.

It will further be seen that in this construction, there'is noY separatesupport for the hollow receptacle or float l, but`that this support is integral with the bottom of the valve and that it acts not only as a support, but as the aring device for the end of the water discharge pipe. I have shown the unstanding part 6 as integral with the bottom and the ilaring member I2 as integral with the upstanding member, but it is of course evident that they may be separate and attached if desired.

In Figs. 11 and 12 I have shown modified constructions wherein the tube II is cut away at I3 having a portion of the metal removed. This metal may be cut away at two opposite points. The ends I4 are bent over. After the valve is nished the slotted end of the tube with bent ends I4 is pushed in nipple 5, the tube being of material sufiiciently elastic to permit portions of the tube to bend inwardly towards each other to permit the end being inserted in the nipple, and when the projections I4 pass beyond the nipple they will move outwardly so as to engage the Wall of the nipple, thus holding the tube in place. These ends may simply engage the walls surrounding the hole of the nipple, as shown in Fig. 12, or the nipple may be formed with a aring member I5 on it, as shown in Fig. 11, so that after the tube is inserted the ends I4 move out due to their elasticity, and the tube can then be rotated so as to bring the faces of the projections I4 in contact With aring member I5, which tends to flare them out and properly shape them.

I have shown a particular construction in the drawing, but it is of course evident that parts may be varied in many particulars without departing from the spirit of the invention as set out in the claims hereto appended, and I therefore do not limit myself to the particular construction shown.

I claim:

l. An air valve comprising a casing, a valve element in said casing, said casing having a passageway communicating with the outside atmosphere, a bottom for said casing, an upstanding support on said bottom for supporting said valve element in proximity to said passageway, said casing being provided with an opening, a Water discharge pipe projecting from the casing through said opening, and a flaring device on the interior of the casing and forming a part of said support for the valve element and opposite said opening, whereby the pipe can be brought into contact with said aring device to flare the endof the pipe so that it will remain in position in the casing.

2. An air valve comprising a casing, a valve element in said casing, said casing having a passageway communicating with the outside atmosphere, a bottom for said casing, an upstanding support on said bottom for supporting said valve element in proximity to said passageway, said casing being provided with an opening, a Water discharge pipe projecting from the casing through said opening, and a aring device on the interior of the casing and forming a part of said support for the valve element and opposite said opening, so that the pipe can be brought into contact with said flaring device to flare the end of the pipe so that it Will remain in position in the casing, the end of the water discharge pipe which is to be flared being weakened to assist the flaring operation.

3. An air valve comprising a casing, a valve element in said casing, said casing having a passageway communicating with the outside atmosphere, a bottom for said casing, an upstanding support on said bottom for supporting said valve element in proximity to said passageway, said casing being provided with an opening, a Water discharge pipe projecting from lthe casing through said opening, and a flaring device on the interior of the casing and forming a part of said support for the valve element and opposite said opening, so that the pipe can be brought into contact with said flaring device to flare the end oi the pipe so that it will remain in position in the casing, the end or the water discharge pipe being slotted for a portion of its length, to assist in the flaring of its end.

4. An air valve comprising an integral casing of thin material, a valve element in said casing, a bottom for the casing having a laterally projecting nipple thereon, the casing having an opening near the bottom, through which the nipple is received when the bottom is placed in position.

5. An air valve comprising an integral casing of thin material, a valve element in said casing, a bottom for the casing having a laterally projecting nipple thereon, the casing having an opening near the bottom, through which the nipple is received when the bottom is placed in position, the lower face of the bottom being substantially in the same plane as the lower edge of the casing.

'7. An air Valve comprising a casing, a bottom therefor,a nipple connected with the bottom, for attaching the air valve to a radiator, a valve'element in the casing, a water discharge pipe extending through said nipple, a iiaring device Within the casing, integral with the bottom, for flaring the end of said Water discharge pipe, so as to retain it attached to the casing, the flaring device acting as a support for the Valve element.

JOSEPH F. STANWCH. 10 

